Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary

General

An easy destination to combine with a visit to Champaner is the Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary, a mere 20 km away (70 km from Vadodara). Full of forests of teak and mahuda trees, bamboo, and other lush vegetation, Jambughoda is home to large populations of many kinds of wildlife. The leopard at the top of the food chain is the primary predator, and its numbers have been increasing recently. Other large wildlife include the wild boar, nilgai (blue bull, the largest antelope in Asia), jackal, hyena, barking deer, sloth bear, and chausingha(four-horned antelope).

Before independence, the region belonged to the princely state of Jambughoda. The valleys nestled in the well-forested hills have always been home to many tribal settlements. There are many places to hike through the forests in the sanctuary and it is a marvelous camping site. For those without the experience to camp, a forest rest house is available beside the Kada reservoir, one of two reservoirs in the sanctuary.

The nearest bus and rail access is Shivrajpur, just 1 km from the sanctuary.

How to get there

By road: Champaner is 45 km from Vadodara, accessible by bus or private vehicles. Cars can be hired in Vadodara to drive to Champaner-Pavagadh, which is the best option if you want to combine the journey with other sites like Jambughoda.